CHAPTERONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of study

            Atextbook is an educational resource or instrument. One of the major educationalresources required for teaching and learning (of Economics) in Nigerian seniorsecondary schools is quality textbooks (Federal Government of Nigeria, 2004).The teaching and learning of Economics as a senior secondary school subjectrequires the use of Economics textbooks to achieve its objectives as enshrinedin the National Policy on Education. A textbook can be seen as an importanttool in the teaching-learning process of Economics and any other subject. Itcould be one among other factors affecting students’ learning outcomes. Atextbook according to Jones (2007) is a book that contains information about asubject that students study. Also, it is a book that students use regularlyduring a set of lessons, textbooks treat subject comprehensively and is used bystudents as a basis for study. Ciftci, Cecen and Melanliogu (2007) definedtextbooks as printed educational and instructional materials which arecomprised of rich text equipped with cognitive and perceptive capabilitiesappropriate for age and knowledge levels of students and are prepared based oneducational programme principles for transfer of knowledge to students.Williams (1983) says that the textbook is a tool and the teacher must know notonly how to use, but also how useful it can be and so must use discretion inadapting textual materials to the need and interests of students. The textbookas an instructional tool is unique among all other instructional media due toits possession of certain characteristics. It is durable, permanent (nottransient), portable and independent of electricity or electronic device whenin use. It appears to be the oldest of instructional media. Due to its age-longexistence and availability, it is common among teachers and learners more thanany other medium. Moreover, textbooks have a prominent position in curriculumreform and are considered the most important tool for the implementation of anew curriculum in many countries (Valverde, Bianchi, Wolfe, Schmidt &Houang, 2002). While emphasising on textbook(s), Aggarwal (2001) stated that,classroom teaching activities depend heavily on the use of textbook especiallyin the institutions where the teachers are not well qualified. Aggarwalsuggested guidelines upon which the relevance and adequacy of textbook featurescould be evaluated. They include; selection of content, organization ofcontent, presentation of content, verbal communication (language) and visualCommunication (illustration). To each of the items listed above, Aggarwalidentified some specific features, thus; the selection of content consists ofeight parameters which are; content must be relevant, there must be adequatecoverage of the content, there must be adequate content of each topic, thereshould be authentic content, there should be up-to date content, there must beintegrated content and there should be content linked with real life. Underorganization of content, 3 parameters were identified thus; division into suitableunit, division into suitable sections and psychological approach to thecontent. The presentation of content should be attractive and have anappropriate title, motivating, creative and interesting content. Verbalcommunication (language) has four parameters thus, appropriate vocabulary,short and simple sentences, correct spelling and correct punctuation. Visualillustrations should be; suitable for the mental level of students, easilyportable and up to date, motivate learners, relevant and purposeful, accurate,simple, and large enough for sight. Given the adequacy and relevance of thesefeatures, a textbook can be referred to as good.

There are some criteria for selecting agood textbook. Afolabi (2014) opined that in the selection or choice of a goodtextbook, the textbook must be well-graded, that is, suitable for thecapability of the children for which it is intended. The facts must be simple,clear and logically set out, fit into child-centred education. For the generalpresentation format, Afolabi gave the following conditions; first, the textbookshould be interesting, because it makes the learner interested in learning,well written and beautifully compiled so that it might win and retain users’goodwill by virtue of more solid qualities. Secondly, it should bewell-illustrated with attractive colour, inspiring drawings and photographs. Itshould be attractive, inviting, pleasant to look at and read, with well-chosenillustrations that are well connected and sequential. Thirdly, the textbook shouldbe up-to-date in content, frequently revised and reprinted when necessary andlastly the textbook must be complete with its table of contents, illustrations,charts or other references. And for higher classes’ textbooks, Afolabisuggested inclusion of references at the end of each chapter for supplementaryreading so as to inculcate in the learners the skill of comparison. It shouldalso include the index. This is to give room for supplementary textbooks.

Textbooks play a large part indetermining what is taught in secondary school classes and they stand out atthe heart of educational enterprises. Teachers rely on them to set theparameters of instruction and to impart basic educational content. In schools,students’ school work often begins (and in some schools ends) with thetextbook. Textbooks constitute the base of knowledge, particularly in the thirdworld countries (like Nigeria) where there is a chronic shortage of qualifiedteachers, and online educational services (Naiz, 2001). This would maketeachers who are poorly prepared to address the curriculum to rely heavily ontextbooks for information and assignments. Since textbooks are very importantin teaching and learning processes, they need to be critically evaluated to seewhether they are meeting the expected goals of the National Policy on Education(NPE, 2008).

In Nigeria today, there are many(Economics) textbooks written by different authors, published and pushed intothe market and schools. Additionally, many senior secondary schools offerEconomics as an elective subject and there are some practical problems facingthe teaching and learning of Economics ranging from obsolete textbooks with theexception of a few, and badly written Economics textbooks in Nigeria which are,sketchy and lack the in-depth content, they are largely descriptive, poorlyillustrated, contain lots of inaccuracies and they are mostly produced in ahurry (Afolabi, 2014). Similarly, studies on textbooks have shown that some ofthem may contain incorrect information. Schwartzman (2008) in his study onSouth Korea’s elementary, middle and high school textbooks found out that eightof them contain incorrect information. In the same vein, Nomoto,Nonaka, Mizoue,Kobayashi and Jimba (2011) in their study on the content of health textbooksused in elementary, junior and high schools in some 14 countries, also foundout that several current textbooks provide insufficient content and containinaccurate or out of date health information. Given these problems associatedwith textbooks, there is a need to carry out a content analysis on Economicstextbooks used in senior secondary schools in Nigeria in order to make surethey contain accurate and up to date information and are rich in content interms of adequacy of content coverage, appropriateness of illustrations, verballanguage and evaluation guide.

Economics textbooks are a representativeof the Economics curriculum. Textbooks which are given over-reliance byteachers are regarded as representing the intended curriculum (Flanders, 1994).Economics is one of the elective subjects to be studied at the Senior SecondarySchool level as prescribed by the National Policy on Education (2004). Thecurriculum is based on the principle of equipping Senior Secondary Schoolgraduates with basic knowledge and skills to appreciate the nature of economicproblems in any society and adequately prepare them for the challenges in theNigerian economy. The curriculum is designed thematically and structured in aspiral form to spread from Senior Secondary one level to Senior Secondary threelevels (SS1-SS3) in a simple to complex way with in-built teachers and learnersactivities for each topic. The Economics curriculum reflects depth,appropriateness, and interrelatedness of the curricular contents. Also,emerging issues which covered value orientation, peace and dialogue, includinghuman rights education, family life/ HIV and AIDS education, entrepreneurialskills et cetera were infused into the relevant contents of the new SeniorSecondary Curriculum. In general, the curriculum pays particular attention tothe millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the critical elements of theNational Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies (NEEDS). Since thecurriculum represents the total experiences to which all learners must beexposed, the contents, performance objectives, activities for both teachers andlearners, teaching and learning materials and evaluation guide are provided.The prescription represents the minimum content to be taught in the schools inorder to achieve the objectives of the new Senior Secondary School programme.However, teachers are encouraged to enrich the contents with relevant materialsand information from their immediate environment. Changes in Economicscurriculum are supposed to be reflected to both textbooks used in Economicscourse and teaching activities of Economics teachers, so as to bring about thedesired learning outcomes in students.

In the recent review of the SeniorSecondary School Economics Curriculum in 2008, the former twenty six (26)themes have been restructured into sixteen (16) themes with 49 topics spreadover the three years of Senior Secondary levels based on the complexity oftopics and the total teaching time available in each year (Senior Secondaryone-16 topics, Senior Secondary two-18 topics and Senior Secondary three-15topics). The inclusion of new topics and concepts requires new Economicstextbooks to reflect the content of this curriculum. Given these changes in thereview of the curriculum, there is a need to find out the adequacy of contentcoverage of Economics textbooks and the inclusion of the new topics andconcepts in order to bring about the desired learning outcome.

Some science and social science(Economics) textbooks used in Senior Secondary Schools in most part of thecountry have been criticized by stakeholders to be irrelevant because of thelearning outcomes of the students at the end of the programme (Afolabi, 2014).However, most statements of the critiques were not based on empirical evidence.For some years now, research findings have shown the abysmal achievement ofstudents of secondary schools in public examinations in Economics. Ajayi(2002), Nwokocha and Amadike (2005), Adeyemi (2008) and Ashikhia (2010) intheir various studies have all shown the extent of poor achievement of studentsin Economics examinations. The trend of Economics students’ achievement inMay/June Senior Secondary School Examination (WAEC) 2009-2012 for Enugu Stateshows that, in 2009, when 519,524 enrolled for Economics, 33.97% had creditpass (A1-C6), 28.16% had ordinary pass (D7-E8), 34.47% failed (F9), while 3.4%were absent. Similarly, in 2010, out of the total number of candidates thatenrolled for Economics (554,853), 38.20% had credit pass, 36% had ordinarypass, 34.41% failed, while 2.03% were absent. Furthermore in 2011, 649,277candidates enrolled for Economics, out of which 41.12% passed at credit level,31.09% had ordinary pass, while 24.95% failed while 2.84 were absent. Finallyin 2012, 849,028 candidates enrolled, 46.75% had credit pass, 26.75% hadordinary pass, 24.24% failed while 2.26% was absent from the examination(source: WAEC Statistics Office Enugu, 2013). Though there has been a steadyincrease in the number of Economics student enrolment, but the conclusion drawnfrom their achievement between 2009 and 2012 is that, more than 50% of thestudents that enrolled had below credit pass which implies poor academic achievement(See Appendix C, page 72). This persistent decline in students’ achievement ininternal and external examinations is not just a source of worry tostakeholders alone, but also frustrating to the students and their parents; itseffects are equally grievous on the society and do not justify the objectivesof secondary education. Carrying out a content analysis on most of theseEconomics textbooks used in senior secondary schools in Enugu State in order todetermine their adequacy in terms of content coverage, appropriateness ofillustration, verbal language and evaluation guide, would bring about animprovement in the quality of the textbooks and subsequently also improve thequality of content conveyed by the schools to students thereby improving theiracademic achievement.

Content analysis is one of the mostfrequently applied research methods in the field of education. Content analysisoriginally used in communication, journalism, sociology, psychology, andbusiness (Neuendorf, 2002), is today considered to be one of the main methodsof educational research and it is also frequently applied in areas such as lawand health care. As Weber (1990: 117) puts it “content analysis is a researchmethod that uses a set of procedures to make valid inferences from text” and ithas several advantages in comparison with other research methods. According toCohen, Manion, and Morrison (2007), content analysis in a broader sense refersto the process of summarising and interpreting written data, whereas, in anarrower context, it is “a strict and systematic set of procedures for rigorousanalysis, examination and verification of the contents of written data”. One ofthe fundamental features of content analysis is that a vast amount of writtendata is reduced to smaller groups of information, or as put by Weber (1990),long texts with loads of words are represented by fewer words or expressions.In addition, content analysis can be conducted with any written material, fromdocuments to interview transcriptions and can be applied to examine largeamounts of text (Cohen, Manion & Morrison 2007). The supervision andcontrol of information and ideas found in textbooks, and other printedmaterials for students, are very important. There is a clear need to carefullyanalyze textbooks, journals, and other communication media for the purpose of uncoveringparts thought to be dated, offensive or irrelevant. Thus, an importantrationale for a content analysis of textbooks is to improve the quality of thecontents conveyed by the schools to students. In carrying out a contentanalysis on Economics textbooks used in senior secondary schools, thecurriculum is a very important tool.

            Asa result of the importance of textbook to school teaching-learning process, thepaucity of research on Economics textual materials and rare analysis of thesetextbooks themselves, this research will consider the content analysis of somerecommended Economics textbooks used in senior secondary schools in Enugu Statein accordance with the specifications of the existing Senior Secondary SchoolEconomics Curriculum to ascertain the adequacy of content coverage,appropriateness of illustration, verbal language and evaluation guide and alsoto establish a basis for a true critique and to enhance improvement and also toachieve the objectives of the post-basic Economics curriculum (2008).