STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
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STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Over a century ago, Nigeria was an agro-economy-based country. The Nigerian economy was then sustained by agricultural products such as cocoa, groundnut, and palm. Agriculture appeared to be sustainable at the time because everyone was involved, interested, and it appeared to be the primary source of family nutrition for everyone.
There were fewer incidences of unemployment due to a lack of interest or enthusiasm for white-collar work. Families were not complaining about hunger because there was a surplus in most households.
The issue at the time was a lack of funds (currency) to educate children, provide proper healthcare, and raise living standards to those of industrialised countries.
Agriculture, according to Egbule (2004), is a process of training learners in both agricultural production and agricultural teaching practices. Agricultural science is thus intended to instill the necessary skills for agricultural activity in order to promote effective citizenship and contribute to national food security and sustainability. That is why the FRN (1994) identifies the seven key objectives of teaching and studying agricultural science to include the following:
1. Ability to pique pupils’ interest in agriculture. 2. The ability to help pupils learn the fundamentals of agriculture. 3. The ability to help pupils integrate agricultural knowledge and skills. 4. Ability to expose pupils to opportunities in agriculture.
5. Ability to prepare pupils for further agricultural studies.
The achievement of the above aims is dependent on teachers’ factors and educational approaches. Agricultural science instructors are prepared and nurtured at teacher preparation institutes to have a positive impact on their future lives in terms of agricultural skills, knowledge, attitudes, and values that promote self-reliance, agriculture, and food security.
It is thus the responsibility of this group of teachers to: encourage and sustain students’ interest in agriculture, enable students to acquire basic information and practical abilities in agriculture, allow students to integrate knowledge with skills in agriculture, and prepare and expose students to occupations.
The effectiveness of agricultural science teaching and learning is critical to achieving its aims and objectives.Furthermore, agricultural education programs offer a curriculum designed to help people obtain knowledge and abilities in agriculture.
Moore (1994) identified three main teaching styles in agricultural education: formal steps, project-based learning, and problem-solving. As a result, the role of instructors and their teaching practices is an ongoing discussion in all educational contexts. (Martin et al. 1986; Miller et al. 1984).Recently, there has been a lot of talk about quality teaching in educational institutions, and industries in a quickly changing world are concerned about well-educated people.
These concerns have raised the question of teaching methodologies and their effectiveness in secondary agriculture education (Kahler, 1995; Martin, 1995; Moore, 1994; Rollins, 1989). As agricultural educators, we are responsible for ensuring proper teaching and learning to meet the changing needs of the business and societal values (Melion, 1995, p. 5).
According to Carkhuff (1981), teaching is an opportunity to assist others in living their lives fully, which means that we contribute to our students’ lives through their physical, emotional, intellectual, and social development.
Anderson (1994) stated that student outcomes may be substantially influenced by the teacher’s instructional planning, method selection, and variety of learning activities.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Agricultural science education in primary and secondary schools has failed to effectively transform persons and nations. Graduates continue to lack essential vocational and entrepreneurial abilities that agricultural science students are expected to have. Graduates continue to hunt for white-collar careers rather than becoming self-sufficient and employers of labour.
It also appears to be linked to ineffective teaching and learning processes on the part of agricultural science teachers in Nigerian secondary schools.
As a result, the purpose of this study is to look into effective instructional materials for teaching and studying agricultural science in secondary schools in River State’s Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area.
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