School environmental design and violent prevention curriculum as correlates of quality secondary school environments in Rivers State

Abstract

The study examines school environmental design and violent prevention curriculum as correlates of quality secondary school environment in Rivers State. Two (2) research question and 2 hypotheses were answered and tested in the study, respectively. The design of the study was correlational, with the population as the 268 public secondary school in Rivers State. These schools have 11,968 teachers, from which 479 (4%) were chosen as sample, using the simple random sampling technique and determined by using the Taro Yamene minimum standard formula. The study had 2 instruments. These were the validated 20 item School Environmental Design and Violent Prevention Curriculum Scale (S E D V P CS) and the 20-item Quality Secondary School Environment Scale (QSSES), designed by the researchers, in the modified 4-points likert rating scale, with reliability indices of 0.85 and 0.88, respectively, obtained using Cronbach Alpha statistical formula. Pearson product moment correlation coefficient statistics was used in answering the research questions while the hypotheses were subjected to critical probability value of 0.05 for the purpose of testing them. The findings of the study showed a positive moderate correlation between school environmental design and violence prevention curriculum and quality secondary school environment in Rivers State. The study also establish significant correlations between school environmental design and violent prevention curriculum are major variables in determining the quality of school environment. Consequently, it is recommended that the Ministry of Education should include Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CEPTED) principles and measures at the school plant planning stage and also co-opt The professionalism of curriculum developers, psychologists and all relevant manpower in developing a functional violence prevention curriculum, whose content is inclusive effective and achievable in addressing violence through unity, teamwork, understanding, conflict resolution and medication education.