CHAPTER ONE

1. O INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Social studies programme has been in existence in Nigeria for more than two decades, yet, there has been no comprehensive pro­gramme and endeavour at training social studies teachers. As a result, most of those who teach social studies never received any training in teaching social studies. Most teacher-trainers, themselves the pro­ducts of the traditional system, naturally experience difficulties in training their student-teachers in their methodology of social studies.

Any new discipline in the curriculum normally calls for its text­books and other learning materials. There is an acute dearth of appropriate textbooks for social studies in Nigeria. If social studies is not to be a regeneration of history, geography and government in new garb, books in the area need to be urgently developed.

There is an undue emphasis on the cognitive learning domain of social studies at the expense of the affective and psychomotor domains.

Students, parents and teachers express doubts as to the relative merit of social studies in the school curriculum and in the future of the pupils’ academic career. They seem· to see it as a “cog” in the educational wheel, preventing early specialization in history, geo­graphy and government and blurring the chances of access to university education in the traditional subjects.

There seems to be considerable disagreement as to how the learning’s of the students in social studies are to be evaluated. It is our view that the proper evaluation of social studies in the school test the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains. The balance between these will depend on the given situation. Both the essay and the objective-type questions may be used as may be necessary.

Unless we are convinced about the merit of social studies, we may not be sufficiently strongly disposed to find solutions to these problems. And for so long as these problems persist, for so long will the teaching of social studies be hindered.