Exploring Outdoor Education as an Effective Means Of Experiential Learning In Secondary Schools in Nigeria

Outdoor education acknowledges the necessity of selecting a well deserved place for learning to take place. In this place, students learn directly within their immediate environment and gain knowledge about the physical reality of that environment. Through these means, students learn about the key importance of relationships and respect for the learning and teaching processes. The process begins with personal experience and leads to deep questioning which brings about new ideas and knowledge. This paper therefore discourses the essence of outdoor education for students in secondary school, curriculum in the outdoor classroom setting. It also explains the symbiotic relationship between the outdoor education and constructivist strategy. Some models of experiential learning for outdoor education are also highlighted. Conclusion and recommendations are discussed at the end of the paper. Keywords: Outdoor Education, Experiential Learning, Exploring, Second Cycle Institution, Effective. 

Social Studies Education: An Imperative for the Promotion of Cultural Values for National Integration in Nigeria.

Nigeria is a nation of many ethnic groups with diverse cultures. Such cultures could be seen in the aspects of religion, languages, dressing, types of food consumed, marriages, housing, occupation and so on. The cultural values of the country have become a matter of concern since the development of any society is rooted in what the members of such a society cherished or frown at. For instance, the cultural values   which are cherished in the country are basically focused on enhancing human dignity. Such values include discipline, integrity, dignity of labour, social justice, religious tolerance, self-reliance and patriotism. These cultural values are clearly spelt out in the National Philosophy as a measure to ensure rapid integration of the nation. It is believed that any group of people that could not promote their values will surely have a problem of development. In Nigeria, Social Studies Education was conceived as a subject to help heal the wounds of the civil war, ethnicity, ethnocentrism, social and political problems, and to promote culture and national integration, co-operation, good citizenship, among others using the instrument of school(Ezegbe,1988). This paper therefore examines the concept of culture and cultural values, national integration, concept of Social Studies Education. It also highlighted the place of Social Studies Education in the promotion of cultural values and national integration. The paper concluded by stating that, Nigerian’s respect for each other’s cultural characteristics will foster national integration in the country. Recommendations were made with a view to making Nigerian cultural values to be properly imparted to the learners through Social Studies Education

Refocusing Adult Literacy, Non Formal Education and Long Life Learning Education for Multiliteracies in Africa

There is need for some African standardization of the terminology relating to literacy, adult basic education, non-formal education and lifelong learning, not in any restrictive or prescriptive way, but simply to aid understanding and comparability of data and research emanating from countries in Africa. Clarity will be done in this paper to distinguish adult education from more general community development. After decades of sustained efforts to eradicate illiteracy in Africa, illiteracy rates of adults remain high with continuing gender and urban/rural disparities. Illiteracy has several correlations with low productivity, low incomes and poorer health (and susceptibility to HIV/AIDS). It hampers national development efforts. The adult education sub-sector of state education systems remains relatively marginal and under-funded. In spite of the good economic progressed in many countries since the mid-1990s. This paper examines difficulties in some Africans states that is being attributed to multi-linguistic situations compounded by the often rural and subsistence economy of large proportions of the population. Nigeria for example has about 300 languages and dialects, and Chad some 120, of which only about 12 are codified. The Anglophone/Francophone division in African also provides its own difficulties for co-operation. This paper will therefore provide statistical summary of illiteracy and under-education in African countries. The paper therefore concludes that, adult education should be introduced to all teacher education programmes in African states to enhance multiliteracies. Keywords: Adult Literacy, Non – Formal Education, Lifelong Learning Education, Multiliteracies. Refocusing Adult Literacy, Non Formal Education and Long Life Learning Education for Multiliteracies in Afric

The Role of Parents in the Prevention of Hiv/Aids Among Secondary School Students in Ijebuode Ogun State, Nigeria

The study was an assessment of the role of parents in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS among adolescents in Nigeria. The study was conducted among students of selected secondary schools in Ijebu-Ode Nigeria. Two Hundred and Thirty (230) students were randomly selected as sample for the study. The instrument consisted of a set of questionnaire covering the areas of investigation. The data collected were analysed with simple percentage and chi-square statistical tool. The results showed that parents’ role in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS among students included teaching of sex education and the dangers of sexually - transmitted diseases especially HIV/AIDS to students; discouraging them from having multiple sexual partners and encouraging them to visit counselling centres. It was observed that activities of parents had a significant influence on the practice of precautionary measures among the respondents. The study concluded that parents are indispensable in the prevention of HIV/AIDS among secondary school students and that effective health education is the antidote for the prevention and spread of the pandemic disease.Key words: HIV/AIDS; Adolescents; Parents’ rol

Social Studies Lecturer’s Proficiency in the Use of Computer for Effective Teaching in Colleges of Education in the South West Nigeria.

Computer provides and exposes social challenges in the world today. Social Studies lecturers are therefore afforded easy means to facts, ideas and opinion around the world through which they could obtain fresh information to update its content. The computer as an instruction system gives timely, accurate, reliable, affordable and valid information positioned in the global education market. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of proficiency of Social Studies lecturers in the use of computer in Colleges of Education in the south west Nigeria for effective teaching of Social Studies. Data were collected from 74 social studies lecturers using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research question. Result indicated that Social Studies lecturers possess inadequate level of proficiency in all the items except in item 1 which is booting (starting) computer where the Social Studies lecturers have indicated adequate level of proficiency. This entailed that Social Studies lecturers possess inadequate or low level of proficiency in the use of computer for instruction for effective teaching of social studies. The paper recommends that the results of this study should be presented to the authorities of the Federal Ministry of Education in Nigeria to be aware of the levels and areas of computer technology competencies of the lecturers as well as their areas of deficiency so as to adequately equip them in order to face the challenges of global teaching competitiveness among others. Keywords: Proficiency, Computer, Effective Teaching, Competitiveness

Collective Behaviour and Social Movements:a Conceptual Review

Abstract Collective behaviour and social movements have been instrumental in engendering social change, including regime change, and impacting the policy space in many societies. In fact, in the past 200 years, they have become a part of the popular and global expression of dissent. The political class, supported by elite groups and state institutions, most times, does not concede to popular demands until some form of public agitation and ruckus is witnessed. Therefore, social researchers have contemplated the rationale behind social change or social statics. This is because a decipherment of what social change drivers are will help social researchers better understand these "forces", know how to manage or regulate them and how or when to predict social change or otherwise. In Nigeria, an instance of social dynamics was the role Organised Labour and Civil Society groups played in vociferously demanding the return to democratic rule after many years under statocratic hegemony. This was achieved through the expression of different organised collective actions which forced the military overlords in power to acquiesce and capitulate to democratic governance. Akin to this, the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill by the legislature in Nigeria was an upshot of years of agitation by the intelligentsia, members of the fourth estate of the realm and the civil society sector. The FOI bill was conceived with the aim to hold the political and economic managers of the state more accountable to the people. This paper seeks to carry out a conceptual review of collective behaviour and social movements with some reflections on the Nigerian experience

Masked in metaphors: counter narratives in the works of Nigerian cartoonist Mike Asukwo

At the time of independence, most African countries were poised to take charge of their own affairs. However, postcolonial realities characterized by political upheavals, coups and counter-coups, civil wars, and economic downturn, among other setbacks, created a sense of ambivalence in terms of political and economic freedom. In Nigeria, satirical expressions became the tool used against oppressive regimes. In post-independence Nigeria, from the military dictatorial era to the present civilian dispensations,1 sociopolitical issues have been lampooned in different forms of expression such as music, performance, cartoons, and memes. Within this environment, political cartoons began to thrive, as they became a relatively safe way to comment on the political issues of the day (Akande 2002: 2). This was achieved largely by concealing the main subject matter behind the “masks” of metaphoric imagery, which enabled cartoonists to develop narratives that counter the dominant narratives, often opposing governmental policies and practices