TEACHERS OF SOCIAL STUDIES’ PERSPECTIVES ON THE USE OF COMMUNITY RESOURCES IN SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHING/LEARNING IN SOME SELECTED JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS
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It is common knowledge among educators that learning situations in which students actively engage with real examples are kept longer than abstract ones. By giving actual examples, instructional materials enhance realism to the learning experience.
Numerous authors have written about the use of instructional resources in teaching social studies and other related courses in an effort to improve instruction for social and behavioral change. McLuhan (1964), Alaka (1978), Kochhar (1986), Mkpa (1989), Bozimo (2002), Nnanna-Nzemwumna (2003), and Adekeye are among these authors (2008).
Specifically, it was underlined in these writers’ works that the utilization of community resources is a sine qua non for influencing the behavior of learners in every subject, notably social studies, and that these materials are crucial catalysts for social re-engineering and transformation.
Clearly, social studies instruction and learning cannot be achieved effectively without the use of community resources.
Definition of Social Studies
Social studies is one of the academic disciplines that emerged at the turn of the 20th century. Since the inclusion of social studies as a core topic in primary and junior secondary schools in Nigeria in recent years, it has gained prominence in the educational system.
Iyamu (1991) notes that the concentration of social studies in Nigeria is a fresh reaction to the deficiencies of previous educational methods, especially in its major concern for the inculcation of desired norms, values, and attitudes that were necessary to sustain the newly independent nation.
As a problem-solving discipline, social studies focuses on the challenges of man and society, as well as their solutions. Due to its transdisciplinary and multidisciplinary nature, the scope of social studies cannot be precisely defined.
It is difficult to define the beginning and conclusion of social studies. This, along with its emphasis on the altering socioeconomic conditions of man and society, expands its reach. Social studies is an interdisciplinary field that intersects with a number of other fields, especially the social sciences and humanities.
Consequently, social studies is the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities within the educational curriculum that promotes civic competency. It provides a coordinated, systematic study of disciplines such as anthropology, archeology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, religion, and sociology, as well as the humanities, mathematics, and national sciences.
The objective of social studies is to assist young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public benefit as members of a culturally varied, democratic society in an interdependent global community.
Social studies is essentially culture-bound because the majority of its curriculum content is generated from many cultures that fluctuate according to the needs and aspirations of the people. Social studies is a subject with a fluid definition, according to Iyamu (1991); its scope is not fixed, and it concentrates on the fluctuating social situations of man and society.
In determining the significance of social studies, the needs and goals of a society or state are decisive. Contributing to the multiple interpretations of social studies, Adaralegbe (1981) defined social studies as the study of man in his totality – where he lives, his past and present activities, his culture, his mindset, and how he interacts with others.
It focuses on fostering the values, attitudes, and skills that will help the child get along with others as he becomes into a responsible citizen.
Therefore, the concept of social studies cannot be reduced to a single term. This seems to support the position of the Comparative Education Study and Adaptation Center (CESAC) that social studies is not just concerned with the acquisition of information for its own sake, but also with man in his environment.
Social studies teaches lifestyles; it is a mechanism by which individuals learn how to behave as members of society. In 1992, however, the board of directors of National Council for Social Studies, the primary membership organization for social studies educators in the United States, adopted the following definition: the primary purpose of social studies is to help young people develop the capacity to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse democratic society in an interdependent world.
TEACHERS OF SOCIAL STUDIES’ PERSPECTIVES ON THE USE OF COMMUNITY RESOURCES IN SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHING/LEARNING IN SOME SELECTED JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS
DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE PROJECT MATERIAL
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