European Journal of Educational Studies 3(2), 2011
European Journal of Educational Studies 3(2), 2011
© 2011 Ozean Publication
SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF THE JUNIOR SECONDARY
SCHOOL SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM IN EDO STATE
OKOBIA E.O
Department of Educational Psychology and Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Education
University of Benin, Benin – City, Edo State, Nigeria
E-mail address for correspondence: obyokobia@yahoo.com
______________________________________________________________________________________
Abstract: Curriculum development and implementation have pre-occupied the minds educationists and
philosophers since the global evolution of modern educational systems. The search for a defined role for
teachers in the successful implementation of Social Studies curriculum has been a central theme of
research effort over the past several decades. This study employing a questionnaire-based survey strategy
is aimed at evaluating Social Studies teachers’ perception of the essential features of the junior secondary
school Social Studies curriculum in Edo State of Nigeria. A sample of one hundred and seven three Social
Studies teachers were randomly selected from one hundred and fifty (150) junior secondary schools in Edo
state using multi-stage stratified sampling technique. The estimated reliability co-efficient of the instrument
was found to be 0.85 using cronbach Alpha technique. Data were analysed at 0.05 level of significance
using Z-test of proportion and t-test using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software,
version 17.0. The result showed that majority of Social Studies teachers above 50% had acceptable score
on perception of junior secondary school Social Studies curriculum. The qualification of teachers did not
influence their perception. It is recommended that effort be intensified in the training of professionally
qualified Social Studies teachers and the integration of teachers in all phases of Social Studies curriculum
development and implementation.
Key words: junior secondary school, Social Studies teachers
_____________________________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION
Curriculum innovations are meant to be implemented in the classroom by teachers. As the world is
changing rapidly, students in school need to be well equipped to be able to perform their roles and make
meaningful contributions in their societies. Because schools and teachers cannot teach everything, standard
curricula are planned to serve as framework and guide for curriculum decisions. These are made to provide
performance expectations regarding knowledge, processes and attitudes essential for all students and
further provide examples of classroom practice to guide teachers in designing instruction.
303
European Journal of Educational Studies 3(2), 2011
The Social Studies curriculum is prepared in a way that the teaching is made meaningful. In 1985, the
Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Technology published the National Junior Secondary School
Social Studies Curriculum. The Social Studies at the junior secondary school emphasizes the acquisition of
sustainable skills essential for socializing and humanizing the individual child. Three distinct features
including i) the clustering of the subject matter, ii) the conceptual and spiral presentation of information,
and iii) the pattern of instructional organization distinguished the curriculum from the traditional school
subjects.
Unlike the conventional schemes and syllabuses familiar to the traditional teacher, the Social Studies
curriculum has been carefully organized and the pattern of instruction subdivided into five main
interrelated sections including topics, objectives, contents, notes and related activities. Each major topic is
followed by a series of instructional objectives (expected outcomes instruction). At the completion of the
learning activities designed for the theme from the objectives, appropriate contents and related facts and
information are selected across interdisciplinary knowledge areas. Based on the objectives generated and
content selected methods, learning materials and activities are suggested to the teacher and students for the
effective teaching learning processes.
In designing new junior secondary school Social Studies curriculum, the curriculum developers were
guided by pedagogical concepts and philosophies that evolved from local and research findings that
spanned the past half century. The works of several curriculum researchers including Fullan and Pomfret
(1977), Armstrong (1989), Eggen and Kanchak (2001) and Adediwura and Bada (2007) emphasized the
central role of the teacher in the curriculum implementation process. The report of studies evaluating
curriculum implementation demonstrates a wide gap between the expectations of the curriculum developers
and the perceptions and attributes of teachers in actual classroom practice in both developed and
developing countries. This view point corroborates the results of the comprehensive analysis of Social
Studies curriculum implementation in Alberta, Canada by Downey et al., (1975) and confirmed in a recent
evaluation of Social Studies Curriculum implementation in high schools in New Zealand by Sharon et al.,
(2000) and the results of Jakayinfa’s evaluation of teachers’ perception of Social Studies education in
Nigerian secondary schools.
Problem of the study
Anecdotal evidence suggests gross inadequacy in the availability of professionally trained Social Studies
teachers in junior secondary schools in Edo State Nigeria. In addition, data is unavailable on how the
available Social Studies teaches perceive the content and theme of the new National junior secondary
schools Social Studies curriculum. This study therefore seeks to provide some insight into the perception of
teachers drawn from some randomly selected junior secondary schools in Edo State about the content and
theme of the National junior secondary school Social Studies curriculum.
The study addressed two research questions including i) What proportion of teachers have acceptable score
on the perception of the junior secondary school Social Studies curriculum and ii) To what extent does
qualification of Social Studies teachers influence their perception of the junior secondary school Social
Studies curriculum. Two hypotheses including i) The proportion of Social Studies teachers who had
acceptable score on the perception of the junior secondary school Social Studies curriculum is not
significantly different from 50% and ii)Teachers’ qualification did not significantly influence their
perception of the junior secondary school Social Studies curriculum.
METHODOLOGY
The study is a survey utilizing causal comparative design. The causal comparative component has two
categories of independent variables namely Social Studies teachers (NCE versus B.Ed). The dependent
variable is their perception of the junior secondary school Social Studies curriculum.
304
European Journal of Educational Studies 3(2), 2011
The population consisted of Social Studies teachers in the junior secondary schools in Edo state. A sample
of one hundred and seventy three (173) Social Studies teachers were selected using the multi-stage
stratified sampling. The instrument was a likert scale questionnaire designed to find out Social Studies
teachers perception of the National junior secondary school Social Studies curriculum (NJSSSSC) with
respect to its philosophy aims, content, teaching strategies, instructional materials for teaching and students
evaluation. The instrument was divided into sections A & B section A of the instrument required
demographic information such as name of school, location, sex of teacher and qualification and area of
specialization section B is meant to find out Social Studies teachers’ perception of Social Studies
curriculum.
The content validity of the instrument was established by three expert in Social Studies and an expert in
Measurement and Evaluation in Faculty of Education, University of Benin.
To determine the reliability of the instrument a pilot testing was carried out. The teachers’ questionnaire
was administered to twenty Social Studies teaches from twenty (20) Schools who were not involved in the
main study. Their responses were scored and data collected were analysed to obtain the reliability coefficient using cronbach Alpha techniques. The reliability co-efficient was found to be 0.85. This high
alpha value indicates that the instrument is reliable for the study.
The instrument was administered to all the Social Studies teachers sampled. The data was analysed at 0.05
level of significance using Z-test of proportion and t-test. To determine the acceptable level in hypothesis
one, the midpoint of the likert scale of the instrument was taken which is 2.5 this was multiplied by the
number of items in the instrument i.e 20, to obtain the acceptable level of 50.
Data analysis was carried out using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 17.
ANALYSES OF RESULTS
Hypothesis 1
The proportion of Social Studies teachers who has acceptable score on the perception of the junior
secondary school Social Studies curriculum is not significantly different from 50%.
To establish the proportion of Social Studies teachers who had acceptable score on perception of the junior
secondary school Social Studies curriculum, a Z-test of proportion was used to test the hypothesis. The
summary of the Z-test of proportion is presented below.
Table I: Proportion of Social Studies teachers who had acceptable score on the perception of Social
Studies curriculum. Teachers (n=173)
Scores
on
Social
Curriculum Acceptable
Not Acceptable
Studies
N
Proportion
Criterion score
.70
.50
121
52
Z
(cal)
Z (cri)
1.96
5.25
95% CI
63.11,
0.7677
Of the 173 teachers tha participated in the study, 121 of them scored 50 and above (acceptable score) on the
perception of Social Studies curriculum. While 52 teachers scored below 50. This gave a proportion of .70
for teachers who scored 50 and above (the acceptable score). This figure is greater than the criterion score
of .50. The Z calculated was found to be 5.25 while the table Z value is 1.96. From the calculated Z value
which is greater than the table Z, the null hypothesis was rejected. The 95% confidence interval (CI) was
generated and it revealed that between 63.11% and 76.77% of Social Studies teachers had acceptable score
on the perception of Social Studies curriculum.
Hypothesis 2
305
European Journal of Educational Studies 3(2), 2011
Teachers’ qualification did not significantly influence their perception of the junior secondary school Social
Studies curriculum.
To establish if teachers’ qualification has influence on their perception of the junior secondary school
Social Studies curriculum the t-test statistics was utilized to test the hypothesis as shown Table II below.
Table II: Influence of Teachers’ qualification on perception of the junior secondary school Social Studies
curriculum
Qualification
N
NCE
73
63.36
5.758
Graduate
100
63.19
6.863
Mean
X
Sd
T
P–value
0.168
0.687
Of the 173 teachers that participated in the study 73 were NCE teachers while 100 were graduate teachers.
The mean scores of NCE teachers on perception of junior secondary school Social Studies curriculum was
63.36 (Sd 5.758) while the mean scores of graduate teachers was 63.19 (Sd 6.863).
To test if the difference is significant, the mean scores of these teachers on perception of Social Studies
curriculum were computed using the t-test. There was no significant difference between the mean score of
NCE and graduate teachers (t = 0.168, p = 0 .867); testing at an alpha level of .05. This means that
qualification did not have significant influence on perception of Social Studies curriculum.
DISCUSSION
The result of the study suggested that the proportion of Social Studies teachers who had acceptable score on
teachers’ perception of the junior secondary school Social Studies curriculum was significantly greater than
the hypothesized proportion of .50. This indicates that majority of Social Studies teachers had positive
perception of the Social Studies curriculum. Teachers’ perceptions have important implications for
instructional practices in the classroom. Our findings corroborate the reports of various investigators. In an
evaluation of teachers’ perception of the objectives of the junior secondary school Social Studies
curriculum among Social Studies in Ekiti and Ondo States of Nigeria, Mansaray and Ogunyemi (1994)
reported that Social Students teachers were unable to discriminate those that were objective of Social
Studies from those that were not. Jekayinfa (1996) also reported similar findings in her evaluation of
teachers’ perception of Social Studies education in the Nigerian secondary schools in Kwara, Niger and
Oyo States. Her study revealed that the perception of teachers about the different orientation of Social
Studies were ,varied. While most teaches perceived Social Studies as comprising both citizenship education
and social science, others perceive it as a reflective inquiry. The author emphasized the need for teachers to
be broad minded when teaching Social Studies bearing in mind that Social Studies consists of all the three
orientations. In addition, effort should be made to blend these three orientations together for effective
teaching and training at the secondary school level.
Similar findings have been reported by various Social Studies curriculum researchers from the developed
countries. In her evaluation of the implementation of a new Social Studies curriculum in schools in New
Zealand, Sharon (2000) noted that most teachers lacked understanding of the new curriculum. This was
also confirmed by Downey (1975) in his comprehensive analysis of the implementation of Social Studies
curriculum in schools in Alberta, Canada. In his exhaustive report, he identified several problems related to
Social Studies curriculum implementation in high schools in Alberta. Analysis of questionnaire data
306
European Journal of Educational Studies 3(2), 2011
revealed that although over 90% of the teaches claimed to be aware of the master plan of the Social Studies
curriculum, majority of them were not familiar with the substance of it.
In this study, qualification of teachers had no significant influence on teacher's perception of Social Studies
curriculum. This finding is in keeping with the report of Farouk (1990); this author found that among a
group of randomly selected junior secondary school Social Studies teachers in Kano State of Nigeria,
qualification had no significant influence on teachers' perception of citizenship education.
There is no doubt that the teacher occupies a place of pride in the evolution, design and successful
implementation of any school curriculum. This view point has been re-echoed by various curriculum
experts and researchers in both developed and developing countries over the past decades. Arm strong
(1989) opined that a curriculum can remain just a plan if classroom teachers do not understand its goals,
content and methods. Therefore the teaching of the curriculum is largely determined by teachers'
perception of its specific elements. The teacher is the central figure in any implementation of the
curriculum process; the implementation of any curriculum at classroom level depends largely on teachers'
existing ideas and the extent to which they regard the curriculum as desirable and practicable. Fullan and
Pomfret (1977) suggested that teachers should have knowledge and understanding of the programme being
implemented; such knowledge relates to components of the curriculum including philosophy, goals and
objectives, subject matter and implementation strategy. These components form the characteristics of the
curriculum.
Eggen and Kanchak (2001) highlighted three major criteria for evaluating teachers' knowledge of the
subject matter of a curriculum. These include knowledge of content, pedagogical content knowledge and
general pedagogical knowledge. It is an incontrovertible fact that nobody can teach what he does not
understand. It has been established that there is high correlation between what teaches know and Wh2~
they teach. Thus, the ability to teach effectively depends on the teachers' knowledge of the curriculum
content. Teacher effectiveness is impeded if the teacher is unfamiliar with the body of knowledge taught.
The implication of this is that teachers must thoroughly understand the content of what they teach.
Adediwura and 8ada (2007) noted that teachers' whose understanding of topic is thorough, use clearer
language and provided a more connected discourse and better explanation than those whose background
are weaker. Eggen and Kuachak (2001) declared that where pedagogical content knowledge is lacking,
teachers commonly paraphrase information in learners' text books or provide abstract explanations that are
not meaningful to their students.
The right quality and quantity of teachers are needed to achieve the goals of any educational programme. It
is in recognition of this fact that the national Policy on education (2004:26) states that all teachers shall be
professionally trained for effective performance of their duties. Teachers' knowledge available to teachers
determine how they perform in a classroom situation. The standardized curriculum has great impact on
teaching practices since it controls the scope and sequence of learning. Teachers are expected to translate
curriculum intentions into classroom practices. This will involve setting learning objectives, picking and
organizing relevant learning experiences based on specified content and carrying out assessments to
ascertain the attainment of instructional objectives.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The findings of this study revealed that Social Studies teachers have positive perception of junior secondary
school Social Studies curriculum but level of qualification did not influence their perception. Since the
implementation of the curriculum is largely determined by teachers' perception of its specific elements, it is
recommended that Social Studies teachers be given adequate orientation on what the new junior secondary
school Social Studies curriculum entails in terms of its philosophy, goals, objectives content and
implementation strategy which are essential for effective implementation of the curriculum. In addition,
pre-service Social Studies programme should be enhance by in-service education programme. This will
strengthen the practicing teachers in current teaching practice. Teacher education progamme in Social
Studies should be reviewed and improved so that recipients can be more productive in Social Studies
307
European Journal of Educational Studies 3(2), 2011
teaching. Finally Social Studies curriculum guidelines should be distributed to all teachers teaching Social
Studies in schools.
308
European Journal of Educational Studies 3(2), 2011
REFERENCES
Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (1985). National curriculum for junior secondary
schools Social Studies/Religion 5, Lagos Heinemanna educational books (Nig) Ltd.
Armstrong D.U (1989). Developing and documenting the curriculum. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Fullan, M and Pomfret (1977). Research on curriculum and instruction implementation. Review of
educational research 47(1) 335 – 397.
Eggen P and Kanchak D (2001). Educational psychology: Windows on classrooms. New Jersey, Prentice
Hall, Inc.
Adediwura, A.A and Bada Tayo (2007). Perception of Teachers’ knowledge, attitudes and teaching skills
as predictor of academic performance in Nigerian Secondary Schools Educational Research and
Review 2 (7) 165 – 171.
Sharon D. (2000) implementing Social Studies in the New Zealand curriculum: A summary report on the
experiences of a national sample of school. The research bulletin N0. 11
Downey L. (1975). The Social Studies in Alberta. Edmonton, Alberta, Downey Research Associate
Favouk, M.K. (1990) Social Studies teachers’ perception and their instructional strategies in teaching
citizenship education in the junior secondary schools in Kano State. Unpublished Ed.D thesis.
Mansaray A and Ogunyemi S.A (1994). Nigerian teachers’ perceptions of the curricular objectives of
Social Studies. Studies in Education 1(1) 38 – 45.
Federal republic of Nigeria (2004). National policy on education Yaba-Lagos NERDC.
Jekayinfa, A.A (1996). Teachers’ perception of Social Studies education in the Nigerian secondary schools.
Journal of sociology of Education 3(8), 103 – 109.
309