CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

          Over the years, there have been growing concerns about the attitude of students towards the study of social studies in secondary schools.  The need to adapt our education to the needs of the Nigerian society started before and after independence.  Many educational elites began to recognize that the functional inadequacies of the educational system inherited from the colonial education failed to develop positive values, attitudes and habits in our society because the social studies they taught was British oriented and has nothing to offer to the Nigerian child.

Fafunwa (1974) observed that the present educational system instead of developing positive values in the society which the African child lives, tends to alienate him from his cultural environment.  This was the reason behind the re-evaluation of the educational system and the curriculum of the school and objectives that are relevant to the society.

          The major ideas and philosophies behind the curriculum innovation in the 1969 Naional Curriculum Conference according to Akinlaye (2001) were:

1.       The need to make education more relevant to the needs of the individuals and the society.

2.       The need to use education for national integration and socio-economic development.

3.       The need to develop the right societal value and;

4.       The need to make an individual responsible to the society in which he lives.

This has been the case, the National Policy on Education (2004) has in recognition the important role social studies will play towards the achievement of the country’s educational aims and objectives.  Thus, social studies was made a core subject. Hence, there is a greater responsibility for social studies teachers in Nigeria today than the days before independence, this is because the Nigerian youths now live in an environment characterized by social ills and moral decadence which have to be curbed at all cost.  The youths therefore need social studies education which focuses on the problems and issues of human beings in their changing environments and seeks to devlop desirable habits, values, attitudes and skills in order to solve them.

          Researchers have concentrated much on the cognitive aspect of teaching in our secondary schools because of the importance attached to success in public examinations, however, there is an interplay between the cognitive and affective areas of teaching.  For example, Taylor (2001) and Gunsch (2005) have shown that there is a relationship between interest and developments in different school subjects, therefore, it is believed that favourable attitude towards social studies may influence to a considerable extent the uptake of knowledge in social studies.

          Studies relating to specific aspects of pupils’ attitude towards social studies and other related subjects have been undertaken by several researchers.  Jekayinfa (2007) has reported that high grade in social studies at lower forms is a factor that can pull students to history in the secondary schools in Nigeria.  In the study of factors associated with interest in science, Ormerod and Dukworth (2000) have also identified a number of factors like personality, home and other environmental factors among American and British High School students.