The adolescence stage of life can be regarded as the middle stage of life between childhood and adulthood and is the foundation of life as it can make or mar one&rsquo;s life. The achievement orientation of an adolescent, therefore, matters to enable a good foundation. Inclusive in making for a good foundation is also the parental background. A mother&rsquo;s influence in the adolescent&rsquo;s life matters a lot, especially the influence of a literate and educated mother. It is given that a measure of achievement orientation would reflect in the academic performance.&nbsp;&nbsp; The present study looks into mothers&rsquo; literacy&nbsp;&nbsp; level and achievement orientation cum performance of adolescents in Kwara state, Nigeria, to see what differences can be found.&nbsp

Mowaiye Fagbemi, O

UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB

PJERE, December 2022, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 93-97 Differences in Mothers’ Literacy Level and Adolescents’ Achievement Orientation and Performance in Kwara State, Nigeria  Mowaiye Fagbemi, O. University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria olufunmilayofagbemi143@gmail.com ofagbemi@unilorin.edu.ng  KEY WORDS  ABSTRACT Achievements, Orientation, Behavioral flexibility, Adolescents, Performance.  The adolescence stage of life can be regarded as the middle stage of life between childhood and adulthood and is the foundation of life as it can make or mar one’s life. The achievement orientation of an adolescent, therefore, matters to enable a good foundation. Inclusive in making for a good foundation is also the parental background. A mother’s influence in the adolescent’s life matters a lot, especially the influence of a literate and educated mother. It is given that a measure of achievement orientation would reflect in the academic performance.   The present study looks into mothers’ literacy   level and achievement orientation cum performance of adolescents in Kwara state, Nigeria, to see what differences can be found.     Introduction In recent times in Nigeria, materialism and poverty have overtaken positive values variedly and people are in a hurry to make money and join what the Jones are doing with money. Many are in schools for the sake of certification and not for knowledge acquisition. Little wonder to see many adolescents and students unserious in schools about their studies, especially with the mindset of many that being bookish or studious has no reward. For this reason, many students may not be regular in class, attentive, carrying out assignments, engaged in class tutorials, and other needed activities in school. Some are engaged in selling and making money before or after school to help poor parents and to get needed school items. It is not surprising, therefore, to see many failing and those not wanting to fail, engaged in different malpractices.  The home and parental background of students matters in academic and achievement orientation and subsequent   performance. More so for a poor nation such as Nigeria, where female education in many areas and groups still take the back seat and economic power of people dwindles day by day.  Mothers’ Literacy level and Adolescents’ Achievement Orientation  94 PJERE  However, literate parents value education and strive to see their own wards get it.  When both parents are educated, the ability to give the best form and quality education and training is there. Even if it is just the knowledge that parents are educated in and successful, one must therefore give the needed impetus and ginger to work hard and do one’s best.  The aim of the present study therefore was to see the difference, if any, in the achievement orientation and performance of the adolescents under study vis-a-vis their mothers level of education and to see what difference can be found, especially in a state such as Kwara, where education for the girl child is still regarded as a luxury.       In many areas of Kwara state including the state capital Ilorin, the perception that a woman’s place is and should be at the background of activities, to be seen but not heard, and at home as wife and for household chores still persists even in the 21st century. This is notwithstanding the fact that in traditional African setting, before colonization men and women complemented each other. Psychologically, and behaviorally, women were androgynous, and so did not feel that because they were “females”, they should not do some jobs or get needed education. With the type of African womanhood reflected in the folk tales and array of African heroines, one would have expected more from women in the present day world order, especially by descendants of history keepers, who still continue to relay such stories to their offspring   and still encourage them to break through the so called glass ceilings as it were in education and all spheres of life.  Definitely, the achievement orientation of such women will differ in many respects (Mowaiye, 2011). Skoda’s (1998) study revealed among others that: 1. Cognitive achievement may be less salient socialization domain for mothers, relative to fathers. 2. The belief that child rearing is the mothers’ responsibility may have obscured the fact that fathers may be more important in certain areas. 3.  And that mothers are as significant figures as may be a significant factor to achievement.         Other research works such as those of Bem (1987), Block (1973), Freedman (1980), and Mussen (1984) have all at various points enumerated similar outcomes and   on the significance of studying related factors for developmental purposes in various nations.  Achievement orientation is a sub- set of achievement motivation, and are not one and the same. While the area may be popular as an area of study in other parts of the world, it is still not so in Nigeria, rather motivation is still the popular area, thus the need to dive into this area also.   Methods Subjects for the study were school students at adolescent stage randomly chosen from selected public secondary schools, where the middle  Mowaiye Fagbemi, O.                                            95 PJERE  and lower class background students could be found in abundance and some few higher echelon ones within Ilorin, the state capital.  An instrument, the achievement orientation instrument designed by the investigator Mowaiye (2006)) was used of for the purpose of knowing the achievement orientation level of the adolescents. The instrument was used to determine the students high or low achievement orientation level on the scale.   A questionnaire was used where the students indicated the level of education of mothers and level of education. Because of the general low educational level of participants’ mothers, with the majority not having even a first degree, those who had the primary school certificate and above, were regarded as being literate. To determine the subjects’ academic performance level, the school performance was determined by the examination scores in English, the compulsory subject, in the final year for all school levels except the tertiary level.  English is also a required subject to be passed and have at least a credit to gain higher education and admission to any tertiary institution in Nigeria. It is also required by many foreign universities for tertiary level, with a minimum of a credit in the subject.    Hypotheses    Hypothesis 1: There will be a significant difference in the achievement orientation of subjects with literate mothers and subjects with non- literate mothers.    Hypothesis 2: There will be a significant difference in the academic performance of subjects with positive achievement orientation compared to the academic performance of subjects with negative achievement orientation.        Results and Discussion  Of note is the poor attitude of respondents to filling questionnaires and giving personal details to people they consider as strangers. Thus many did not respond appropriately to the instruments. A t-test was performed on the mean scores for both groups under study The mean score for subjects with illiterate mothers (n=45) on the achievement scale was 36.4 with a standard deviation (SD) of 4.2. A mean score of 37.0 and an SD of 3 were obtained for subject (n=93), whose mothers were literate on the achievement orientation scale. The obtained t-value was not statistically significant at 0.05 leading to the conclusion that there was no significant difference in the achievement orientation of subjects in the two groups. The hypothesis is rejected.     The results of the study are presented in Table 1 below (using the t-test).       Mothers’ Literacy level and Adolescents’ Achievement Orientation  96 PJERE  Table 1 Achievement Orientation of Subjects with Literate Mothers (group 2) and Subjects with non- Literate Mothers (group 1).   Group Mean SD t-value df Critical value 1 36.4 4.2 -1.00 136 1.96 2 37.0 3.1     The findings of the study do not reveal any difference in the achievement orientation of the subjects under study for those whose mothers are illiterates and those whose mother are literates.  Table 1 is the summary. Table 2 is a further analysis of the academic performance of the subjects in comparison to their achievement orientation.   Table 2. Academic Performance of Subjects with Positive Achievement Orientation (group 1) and Subjects with Negative Achievement Orientation (group2).  Group Mean SD t-value df Critical value 1 48.8 11.4 0.97 150 1.96 2 46.9 12.3     The findings of the study show a mean score of 48.8 with a standard deviation of 11.4 for positive achievement orientated group   of the subjects under study and a mean score of 46.9 and an SD of 12.3 for those with negative achievement orientation. The observed t value is not statistically significant at 0.05.  t (150) = 0.97, P>0.05). Table 2 is the summary. And the hypothesis is rejected. Achievement orientation is a significant stepping stone for performance and academic outcomes, more important even than motivation since desire does not lead to outputs but only concrete undertaken steps brings desire to fruition. Therefore, achievement orientation cannot be underestimated. It does make a difference. However, where there is a poor or low achievement orientation, it goes without saying, that the output or performance will also be low or poor. Mowaiye (2011) espoused much on this and its importance for a society having so much luggage with prejudices with female education and its progress. Nigeria as a developing nation needs all its possible manpower on deck for national development and to catch up with developed nations of the world. Focusing on all leads and cues that can make this happen must be explored with all seriousness. That is the only way to go. Achievement orientation and its relation to performance cannot but be emphasized and the need to explore this area further variedly in many aspects of the Nigerian  Mowaiye Fagbemi, O.                                            97 PJERE  society is needed and must be done not only to further research but for societal development in the long run.        References  Bem,s. (1981).Gender Schema Theory-A Cognitive account of sex typing. Psychological review, 88, 354-364.    Block, J. & Harrington, D. (1973). The relationship of parental teaching strategies to age resiliently in pre-school children. Paper presented at the meeting of the Western psychological association San Francisco.  McSweeny, B. & Freedman, M. (1980) lack of time as an obstacle of women’s education. The case of upper father comparative education review, 24 (2) 124- 139.  Mowaiye,O. (2006).Behavioral posit to achievement and school performance. Journal of African Information Technology, vol.1,1,44-50.  Mowaiye, O. (2011). Sex role Orientation and Achievement Orientation among Open University Students.  Open University Conference paper, Lagos, Nigeria.   Mussen, P. Conger, J. Kegan & Husten, C. (1984) Child development. NewYork ; Herper and Row Publishers.  Skodas, N. (1998). Impact of father / daughter relationship on women in educational positions. Ed.D.  Dissertation. University of San Diego.   ….….  Citation of this Article: Fagbemi, M.   (2022). Differences in Mothers’ Literacy Level and Adolescents’ Achievement Orientation and Performance in Kwara State, Nigeria. Pakistan Journal of Educational Research and Evaluation, 10(2), 93-97.   

Differences in Mothers’ Literacy Level and Adolescents’ Achievement Orientation and Performance in Kwara State, Nigeria

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Differences in Mothers’ Literacy Level and Adolescents’ Achievement Orientation and Performance in Kwara State, Nigeria

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