Leadership Styles of Social Studies Teachers and Academic Achievement of Junior Secondary School Students in Social Studies in Calabar Metropolis, Cross River State Nigeria

This study was carried out to determine leadership styles of Social Studies teachers and academic achievement of junior secondary school students in Social Studies in Calabar Metropolis, Cross River State-Nigeria. Ex-post facto research design was adopted. The simple random sampling technique was used in selecting the six public secondary schools used for the study. A sample of two hundred junior secondary school three students (JSS 3) was drawn from the population and used for the study. Three research questions and hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Data were collected using two researcher made instruments tagged “Social Studies Teachers Leadership Styles Questionnaire (STLSQ) and Social Studies Achievement Test (SOSAT) The Data Collected was analysed using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the Fisher Least Square Difference (SLD) was used in the multiple comparism. The findings of the study revealed significant differences in the academic achievement of students based on  their teachers’ leadership styles. Students taught by teachers with autocratic and laissez-faire leadership styles had a lower LSD  value compared to students taught by teachers with democratic leadership styles. Students taught by teachers with democratic styles  performed academically higher than those taught by teachers with either autocratic or laissez-faire leadership styles. Based on this, it was recommended amongst other things that Social Studies teachers imbibe more of democratic rather than autocratic or laissez faire leadership styles in their classroom and that educational administrator should organize workshop and seminars for teachers on proper classroom management

TEACHERS PERCEIVED PROBLEMS OF CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN CROSS RIVER STATE OF NIGERIA.

The study investigated teachers’ perceived problems of curriculum implementation in tertiary institutions. The need for this study was borne out of the concern over prevalent questions raised against the standard of the education system.  Three objectives were pursued; to identify perceived problems, causes, and possible solutions to curriculum implementation. 480 purposively selected teachers of tertiary institutions constituted sample for the study. A validated questionnaire with 3 sections constructed by the researchers formed the main instrument of the study. Data generated were subjected to statistical analysis using frequencies, means and ranking. The findings revealed the most frequently occurring problems, causes and possible solutions of the curriculum implementation. Based on the results obtained from the study, it was recommended that heads of departments and deans of faculties should be made to incorporate the task of monitoring their colleagues to the administrative task, a review of the curriculum to meet contemporary need of the society and the  need for a paradigm shift of some educational policies to result oriented policies so as to enhance proper curriculum  implementation. Keywords: Teachers’ Perceived problems, curriculum, curriculum implementation, Tertiar

The Challenges of Curriculum Implementation in Nigeria Teacher Education

The importance of teachers to the socioeconomic development of any nation cannot be overemphasized. This is because teachers are responsible for the translation and implementation of educational policies, curriculum or course offerings. Teacher education therefore constitutes a conspicuous element in the totality of organized education, formal and non-formal subsystems. Conversely, the policy that all teachers in educational institutions should be professionally trained appears to be the most unfulfilled goal or policy as teachers from pre-primary to the university level remain largely untrained. In effect, the teacher education program appears not to prepare teachers to meet up with the challenges of the 21st century. In this paper, effort was geared towards taking a cursory look at the challenges that has bedeviled the curriculum implementation in Nigerian teacher education institutions. it was therefore recommended amongst other things that a balance in the content of teacher education be established in terms of academic and professional content, selection of suitably qualified candidates for teacher education programmed, professionalization of teaching by the Teachers Registration Council (TRC), and adequately equipping teacher training institutions.   Keywords: Curriculum implementation, Challenges, Teacher education

AN ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEMS OF TEACHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION CURRICULUM EVALUATION IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT There is no gainsaying that curriculum evaluation as a process involves much more than the concept of evaluation. It is a maintenance process in that it helps to envisage the future of curriculum development. It provides future basic data that serves as a control signal to the overall process of curriculum development and implementation. The need for curriculum evaluation is therefore to make data available for continuous feedback and decision making. In this paper, effort was geared towards taking a critical analysis of the problems that has bedeviled teacher and tertiary education curriculum evaluation in Nigeria. It was therefore recommended that all academic staff of tertiary institutions be adequately trained to meet up with the challenges of the 21st century globalized world, adequate funding of tertiary institutions and proper regulation of programmes by Nigerian University Commission (NUC) and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCE)

Academic Stress and Parental Pressure as Predictors of Psychological Health in Covid-19 Emergency Times among School Children with Intellectual Disabilities in Calabar Metropolis, Cross River State, Nigeria: The Implication for Counseling

Background: Academic stress and parental pressure have been shown to be important factors associated with psychological health. However, the internal mechanism between them is still not clear. Aim: This study assessed the joint significant influence of the predictor variables (academic stress and parental pressure) as predictors of psychological health in COVID-19 emergency times among school children with disabilities in Calabar metropolis, Cross River State, Nigeria: The implication for counseling. One study objective was stated, and one statement of hypothesis was posed. A literature review was carried out based on the variable under study. Method: The research design that was adopted in this study is correlational research design. A simple random sampling technique was adopted to select the 234 respondents sampled for the study from a population of 2,344. A validated 35-item four-point modified Likert scale questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. The face and content validity of the instrument was established by experts in Test and Measurement. The reliability estimates 0.89 of the instruments were established using the Cronbach Alpha method. A multiple Linear regression statistical tool was used to test the hypotheses formulated for the study. The hypothesis was tested at a 0.05 level of significance. Results: The results obtained from the data analysis revealed that there is a joint significant influence of the predictor variables (academic stress and parental pressure) on psychological health in COVID-19 emergency times among school children with learning disabilities. Conclusion: Sometimes, stress and pressure can be motivating at the mild stage. However, at the severe stage, it could lead to frustration, social pressure, family workload, and cognitive overload, which in turn influences an individual to use and abuse substances in order to escape from unpleasant feelings of life situations. It was recommended that Parents should advise students on how to perform well academically rather than setting standards that may put so much pressure on students, which may have a negative impact on the psychological health of the students

Teachers’ pedagogic variables and students’ academic performance in social studies in Calabar education zone, cross river State-Nigeria

This study was carried out to determine teacher pedagogic variables and the differences that exist in the academic performance of secondary schools’ students in Socials Studies in Calabar Education Zone, Cross River State, Nigeria. The population of the study comprised of all the 126 Social Studies teachers and 6476 JSS3 students in the 72 public secondary schools in Calabar Education Zone. Since all the 126 Social Studies teachers and 6476 students were manageable for the study, purposive sampling was adopted. Ex-post facto research design was used for the study. Data collection was obtained with the use of researcher’s made questionnaire tagged Teacher Pedagogic Variables Questionnaire (TPVQ) and Social Studies Academic Records (SSAR). The instrument had reliability co-efficient 0.793 for the TPVQ. Results from the analysis show no significant difference in the academic performance of students in Socials Studies in terms of teachers’ educational qualification and experience. It was therefore recommended among others that teacher training institutions should scrutinize would-be teachers to ensure that their interest is continuous in their teaching subject. Keywords: Teachers’ Pedagogy, Variables, Academic Performance, Social Studies