Effects of Teaching Citizenship Components of Social Studies on Junior Secondary School Students’ Civic Knowledge and Skills in Oyo State

Abstract

The Nigerian Society is bedeviled with Social menace in the form of thuggery, corruption, political instability, nepotism, terrorism and suicide bombing, boko-haram, banditry, kidnapping, vandalism, assassination, and a host of other vices which have slowed down the rate of growth and development in Nigeria. This study therefore examined the effect of teaching citizenship education components of social studies on Junior Secondary School Students’ Civic Knowledge and skills. Two null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a pretest-posttest quasi experimental design. One Junior Secondary School was purposively selected in Ibarapa East Local Government Area of Oyo State using 50 Students. Two instruments used to collect data were, “Civic Knowledge and skills Test” and Social Studies Instructional guide. The participants were exposed to treatment for seven weeks on citizenship education concepts. Data collected were analysed using t-test statistic. Results showed that there was a significant effect of treatment on students’ civic knowledge and skills. It was also shown that there was no significant difference in Civic knowledge of students but significant on skills based on gender. The study therefore concluded that effective teaching of social studies could promote civic knowledge and development of intellectual and participatory civic skills in Junior Secondary School Students’ in Oyo State, Nigeria. Recommendations include the need for continuous re-orientation and re-emphasizing of democratic values in order to promote social stability and harmonious relationships in Nigeria; government willingness to recruit Civic Education specialists to teach the subject, and regular review of social studies curriculum to cater for constant changes in societal values, attitudes, knowledge and skills as this affect citizens’ adherence to democratic values and principles amongst others.